


From the Mouths of Babes

by YumeArashi



Category: Assassin's Creed
Genre: Alternate Canon, F/M, Family Feels, Fluff, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-01-23
Updated: 2013-01-23
Packaged: 2017-11-26 14:30:32
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 801
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/651356
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/YumeArashi/pseuds/YumeArashi
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Ezio and Leonardo try to explain to Ezio's young niece why they're not married.</p>
            </blockquote>





	From the Mouths of Babes

**Author's Note:**

> This was written prior to the release of AC: Brotherhood, so it's canon-accurate only up to Assassin's Creed 2. It's set in what Ezio's future might have been like if he'd retired to Monteriggioni after the events of AC2. Warning for Italian endearments, which I hope I got right. If you spot something amiss, please let me know so I can fix!

“Do it again, Uncle Leo, do it again!”

Ezio couldn’t help but smile at the delighted cries coming from the courtyard of his villa in Monteriggioni.  Leonardo’s fascinating gadgets and seemingly limitless knowledge made him a hugely popular visitor with Ezio’s nieces and nephews, who had affectionately given him the honorary title of uncle. 

Stepping out into the courtyard, he grinned at the sight that awaited him.  In their eagerness, the children were practically climbing all over the affable artist.  Leonardo seemed not to mind at all, laughing and playfully surrendering to the energetic assault.

“Enough, bambini, it’s not nice to maul our visitors,” Ezio chided good-naturedly as he waded into the fray, picking children off of his highly disheveled friend.

“It‘s fine, Ezio, I’m not so frail as all that,” Leonardo picked himself up, still smiling, and brushed himself off.  “Though I can see why you would not want to encourage such behavior,” he added, amused.

“You spoil them too much.” Ezio said indulgently.

Leonardo just laughed.  “This, coming from you of all people?  I have never seen a more doting uncle.  And is that not what uncles are for, after all?”

Ezio supposed he couldn’t argue that point.  “You are better with them than I, though.  They absolutely adore you.”

Leonardo shrugged, looking a little embarrassed.  “That’s simply because I don’t believe in ignoring children or treating them as though they were stupid, the way most adults do.  Which never fails to astound me, because children are amazing.  Adults, they take for granted that the world is the way it is, and that’s all there is to it.  They have no sense of wonder, they never question, never challenge - they might as well walk through life deaf and blind!  Children, however, have a boundless enthusiasm for the world entire.  They are open-minded, endlessly curious, and love to learn new things.  Catch a child early enough, and there’s no limit to what you could teach them!”

Ezio smiled at Leonardo’s enthusiasm.  “From your description, it sounds more to me like you get along well with them because you are simply a big child yourself,” he teased.

Leonardo’s indignant reply was interrupted by a tug at his pants, and he looked down to see Lucia, Claudia’s youngest girl.  “Si, piccola?”

“Uncle Leo, are you Mama’s brother, or Papa’s?”

“I’m actually neither, I met your family through your Uncle Ezio.”

“Oh…” The child considered this for a moment, then brightened.  “I see, like Uncle Alessandro became part of the family when he married Auntie Adrianna, who is Papa’s  sister.”

Ezio and Leonardo shared an awkward glance.  “Er, not exactly,” Ezio began, but Lucia simply  arrived at the logical conclusion, looking pleased at her own cleverness.

“So you and Uncle Ezio are married, right?”

Leonardo turned an interesting shade of red, while Ezio choked on nothing in particular.

“Of course we’re not married, cara,” Ezio protested vehemently.  “Don’t be ridiculous!”

The little girl frowned, puzzled.  “Why not?”

“I have to admit, her logic is surprisingly sound given her tender age,” Leonardo muttered wryly, earning himself a glare from Ezio.    “Men don’t marry each other, cucciola.  Your Uncle Ezio and I are just friends.”

“Then who are you married to?” she wanted to know.

 “Lucia, stop prying,” Ezio frowned a little.

“It’s all right, Ezio.  I’m not married to anyone, see?” he held out his unadorned left hand.  “Ezio and I are both unmarried.”

Lucia beamed triumphantly.  “Then of course you should marry each other.  Anyone can see that you are very close, so you can make each other happy instead of both being alone,” she said as if it were the most obvious thing in the world.

The two men looked at each other, at a loss as to how to handle the apparently unassailable conclusion.

“Lucia, it doesn’t work that way,” Ezio said, only to be interrupted again.

“I know, you said two men don’t marry.  But that’s silly,” she declared, as authoritative as only a child can be.  “If two people love each other and make each other happy, then why not?”

Leonardo sat on one of the courtyard’s stone benches, picking Lucia up and setting her on his knee.  “You’re right, cara,” he told her.  “If two people love one another, then nothing should stand in their way.  But the sad truth is that the world doesn’t always work the way it should.”

Lucia scowled.  “Then I will change the world,” she proclaimed with a firm nod,  “so that you and Uncle Ezio can be happy.”  She leaned in to kiss his cheek before scrambling down off his lap and darting away, apparently intending to make good on her word.

Back in the courtyard, Ezio looked at Leonardo, who merely shrugged eloquently - because really, what else was there to say?


End file.
